Egregious
by Supermyst
Summary: Ladybug gets caught up in another mystery. But will she be up to solve it this time? Sequel to 'Chat Noir's Naivety'.
1. Chapter 1 - Modus Art Gallery

**This fan-fiction is a sequel to "Chat Noir's Naivety". I do not own ****any of the ****characters from this amazing show. They are** **creations of Thomas Astruc, Jeremy **

**Zag, Wilfred Pain, and many more. I have created new characters for this fan ****fiction only. ****I was inspired by Remasa to write a fanfiction in the murder genre **

**so I would like to thank her for her guidance and help. ****Also thanks to my friend AmericanDemiGod for supporting me. ****A special thanks to my beta reader, One, **

**for helping me with all the mistakes, I wouldn't have ****been able to write it without One's help. ****Please feel free to write anything you want in the reviews and **

**PM, I don't mind criticism either. ****Please assume that this takes place before 'Miraculer'.**

* * *

**Egregious**

**Chapter 1 - Modus Art Gallery**

"I'm sorry Nathaniel, I won't be able to make it to the art exhibition this evening," Marinette apologized.

"But Marinette, you know that Chole is going to be there and I feel more comfortable with you around," the redhead protested.

"So do I," Marc joined in. The three were standing outside College Françoise Dupont.

"I know but I..." Marinette was cutoff.

"Adrien's going to be there too, you know," Nathaniel reminded her.

"My apologies, I really have to help my parents in the bakery today," Marinette said.

"It's alright Marinette, I understand," Nathaniel sighed.

"Look, just think of happy thoughts and don't let Chloe's comments sway you," Marinette adviced, "Chole can be rash at times but deep down she really does have a heart."

"Don't worry Marinette, we'll manage. By the way, I don't know if you've heard but Ladybug will be coming too," Marc informed.

_'Of course, she'll be coming, which is exactly why I can't go with you guys,'_Marinette thought.

"See you then," Marinette waved as she walked briskly towards the bakery.

"Well Marinette," Tikki laughed as they reached her room.

"I know, I could have come up with a better excuse," Marinette made a face.

"The Grand Art Exhibition is going to be held this evening at the Modus Art Gallery, Place des Vosges. The renowned people to be present are Gabriel Agreste, the most famous fashion designer in France, Mayor Bourgeois, Ladybug the super-heroine, Darrell Lefebvre, the most intimidating auctioneer in Paris and many others. The renowned painter Charles Laurent is going to be there too, he is Nathaniel's idol and that perfectly elucidates Nathaniel's keen interest to visit the exhibition this evening. He had already got three passes for himself, Marc and me. But Marinette isn't going because Ladybug is!" Marinette finished.

"And your excuse to your parents?" Tikki inquired.

"No need for one, they are at Gramps and besides the bakery is closed for the evening and I've finished cleaning up," Marinette smiled.

"You know what you have to do next," Tikki said

"Tikki, _Spots On!_"

* * *

"Not coming, but why?" Ladybug asked, holding her bug phone tightly as she stood at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

"I have to attend a formal party with my father," Chat Noir, "I know you'll miss me, M'Lady".

Ladybug sighed as she ended the call, it looked like she was going to be attending all alone.

"Well it can't be helped," Plagg comforted after Adrien had de-transformed.

"I know that I have to accompany my father and Nathalie but I really wanted to go," Adrien complained as he lay down on his bed with his arms stretched.

"But, you're going," Plagg rolled his eyes.

"As Adrien, not as Chat Noir. I wanted to thank her but we haven't been able to have some time alone," Adrien stated.

"Yeah she sure did save your skin against all those people when that dumb actress Célia was killed," Plagg agreed.

"I really wanted to thank her, not as Adrien but as Chat Noir," Adrien said sadly.

* * *

The evening sun shone brightly through the windows of the Modus Art Gallery. It was extremely hot that evening and both Nathaniel and Marc could have sworn that the worse thing, apart from meeting Chloe at the Modus Art Gallery, was the sweltering heat. As they reached the art gallery they saw the one person that they had been talking about, Chloe Bourgeois! The Mayor and Chloe were stationed outside the gallery.

"Is it really necessary to be standing in this heat Daddy?" Chloe asked.

"We must my dear for Gabriel and Darrell. Those two really get on my nerves with their intimidating ways," the Mayor explained.

"Whatever, you wait. I'm going inside, call me when Adrien comes," Chloe ordered.

"Damn the heat and to top that these two idiots have come," Chloe rolled her eyes, staring at Marc and Nathaniel.

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous", muttered Chloe as she walked inside the gallery.

Suddenly a car came by and Adrien got down. The noise caught Chloe's attention and she turned behind.

"Adrikins", she said hugging him. Adrien uncomfortably returned it .

"Welcome Adrien but where is your Father?" asked the Mayor.

"He'll come soon with Nathalie," Adrien informed, "Good to see you Marc and Nathaniel."

"Hi Adrien, you might have heard that the famous painter Charles Laurent is coming to the Gallery this evening," Nathaniel told him.

"I did," Adrien nodded.

"He is Nathaniel's idol. It's too bad Marinette couldn't some, she admires Laurent as well," Marc sighed.

"Whatever, it's good she isn't here," Chloe said as she pulled Adrien inside.

Just then two figures appeared near the entrance of the gallery.

"Andre, what a surprise!" Jacques Charpentier greeted.

"Ah! Kids, allow me to introduce you to Jacques Charpentier, the senior manager of the Modus Art Gallery and this lady here is his assistant, Laura Petit," the Mayor introduced the new arrivals.

As the teens greeted them, a car swooped fast and stopped abruptly in front of the gallery. A dashing man in his late twenties stood out and removed his sunglasses.

"Speak of the devil, it's Darrell Lefebvre," Jacques laughed.

"How handsome," Chloe fawned.

"Good day Mr. Mayor and Jacques," Darrell waved, his tone cocky.

"And who might these bunch of teens be?" he asked further.

"This is my daughter Chloe," the Mayor pointed at Chloe.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Darrell," Chloe blushed.

The Mayor continued, "This is Adrien, the son of Gabriel Agreste, the famous fashion designer."

"And where is Gabriel?" Darrell inquired.

"He'll be coming, he is busy," Adrien replied.

"Believe me, the word 'busy' is Gabriel's trademark," Darrell said, then he continued with the questions, "And who might you two be?"

"A bunch of idiots," Chloe said quickly.

"They are my friends from school; Nathaniel and Marc," Adrien announced.

"Greetings," Darrell greeted them before going inside.

* * *

"Nathalie, this plan ought to work. The tape recorder was a bad idea," Gabriel said.

"It will," Nathalie confirmed as they stood in Gabriel's office.

"I won't be coming. I have to prepare Adrien's schedule and attend to some of your clients," Nathalie informed.

"Very well Nathalie, I'll be off," Gabriel.

As Gabriel Agreste sat in his car, he recollected the happenings at the Hotel Le Grand Paris. He was very close to identifying Ladybug but had missed it. The tape-recorder was an outdated idea. But the new plan was more accurate and simpler. He would take Ladybug's autograph and then have a handwriting analysis done. He knew for a fact that Ladybug was a teenage girl in high school and this would make it easier for him. All he had to do was to get her to give him an autograph and then Nathalie would give it for analysis. The experts would then compare her handwriting with that of every teenage girl in Paris. It was going to be tedious but it seemed like a plan. It was the only way, he couldn't just ask some other person to give him their copy of Ladybug's autograph as that would arouse suspicion. Besides, Adrien had never asked Ladybug for her autograph. The handwriting analysis would work, as Ladybug would never deny her autograph to anyone. Gabriel had power and money and he knew for a fact that he could get anything done! His car stopped outside the Modus Art Gallery.

"Good Evening, Mr. Agreste," the Mayor nodded in greeting.

"Father, where's Nathalie?" Adrien asked, looking around.

"She won't be coming," Gabriel answered.

"It's good to see you, Gabriel. Darrell's here too," Jacques said.

"I really don't care," Gabriel's tone was emotionless.

"But I do," a voice came from behind them, everyone turned to see who it was.

Kristina Segal, a wealthy art dealer stepped out of her car, her high heels making a loud sound as she approached the entrance.

"Of course you would," Jacques said in a sarcastic tone.

"I see everyone has arrived. What's the matter Jacques, aren't you going to greet me?" Kristina smirked.

The Mayor who was feeling tensed up began, "Kristina, this is my daughter Chloe and these two are from her school and this is Adrien Agreste, the teen model".

"Pleasure. And it is good to see you here Gabriel, though I wonder when you started taking an interest in art," Kristina said.

"Fashion designing is an art Kristina," Gabriel pointed out.

"Of course, of course," Kristina said in an off-hand way.

Gabriel Agreste had indeed come to see the painter Charles Laurent for one of his upcoming designs but he did have another motive for coming.

"Then can we all go in?" Kristina brought him out of his thoughts.

"You're welcome to do so, however, I must wait a bit more," Jacques replied.

"For Who?" Darrell asked.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir," Jacques continued, "I invited them to see a painting that Charles had made of them".

"I wonder what's taking them so long, maybe an Akuma attack," Laura proposed.

_'An Akuma attack! I've got to find an excuse to go!_' Adrien told himself.

_'An Akuma attack! Impossible,'_Gabriel laughed to himself.

Just as Adrien was thinking about an excuse, he saw a red figure in the sky. The figure jumped to the ground in an elegant and graceful manner and Adrien's heart skipped a beat.

"Ladybug," Chloe squeaked.

"I'm sorry I took so long. I was caught up in trying to stop a speeding bus whose brake had lost control," Ladybug explained.

"No worries…Where is Chat Noir?" Jacques asked.

"He isn't coming, though I really wish he was here," Ladybug said, as Adrien blushed.

"Whatever, my BFF is here," Chloe took out her phone. She ran to Ladybug and began to take selfies.

"Ladybug and I are the bestest friends anyone can find in Paris," Chloe bragged.

_'Not her idiocy again!'_Gabriel thought.

"Mr. Bourgeois, the police have finished doing their rounds in the gallery and the cameras have been installed," Officer Raincomprix announced as he came running along to the entrance.

"Excellent and in case anything goes wrong, we have Ladybug with us," the Mayor put a hand toward her.

"My BFF is not only a great heroine but a great detective as well," Chloe went on muttering about how Ladybug had saved Chat Noir's life. Gabriel was getting more and more irritated as he listened as it reminded him of his flop plan regarding the tape-recorder.

"The Chief Inspector praised you a lot Ladybug," Officer Raincomprix informed.

"Thank you," Ladybug thanked.

Listening to everything made Adrien recollect how grateful he was to Ladybug. She had trusted him that night when no one did. If he was safe and sound, then it was only because of Ladybug.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ladybug," Darrell said,as he kissed her knuckles. Adrien felt a pang of jealousy.

"Thank you Mr. Lefebvre," Ladybug smiled.

"So you do know who I am," Darrell seemed happy.

"I am Kristina Segal. I am an art dealer," Kristina told, as she shook her hands with Ladybug.

"Well let's go inside," Jacques said.

* * *

"And in this area, we have the mosaic paintings," Jacques told the crowd.

They had just toured the gallery and seen various forms of paintings ranging from abstract, modern, pop, cubism, surrealism and contemporary to various sculptures.

"Wow! This is amazing. Alix would have loved the graffiti," Nathaniel.

"I liked the contemporary paintings the most. Though I am a huge fan of mosaic art ," Ladybug gave her point of view.

_'M'Lady loves art. Impressive!'_Adrien said to himself.

"Charles has been working on mosaic styles and patterns just after he finished a painting of you and Chat Noir. If you're interested, I could ask him to show you his mosaic art," Jacques proposed an option.

"I'd love to and so would Nathaniel," Ladybug smiled.

"Nail-painting has increasing popularity these days Ladybug. If you come to my place, I can show you my entire collection," Chloe added.

"Well I can show you better Ladybug. I am an art dealer after all and you can bring Chat Noir with you," Kristina offered.

"I have sold many pieces of fine art during several auctions and we have a couple more. Maybe if you come with me, I can show you the best Ladybug," Darrell told her.

_'There's no way I am going to let M'Lady go with Darrell,'_Adrien thought angrily.

"Sure," Ladybug was trying her best to be polite. Gabriel Agreste rolled his eyes at the manner in which everyone was trying to gain Ladybug's attention.

"Good Evening, everyone," Charles said as he entered from one of the spare rooms in the gallery.

"I was just working on a new mosaic pattern," he said continuing.

"I've told everyone about it Charles and Ladybug is…" Jacques was cut off by Charles.

"Ladybug, it is a pleasure to see you here but where is Chat Noir?" Charles asked.

"He couldn't make it today," Ladybug answered

"That's too sad, I'm sure he would have loved the painting," Charles said.

"He will, he has promised to be there when you unveil the painting to the public," Ladybug told him. as Adrien smiled.

"Well that's good news," Jacques said.

Nathaniel and Marc introduced themselves to Charles who gave them an autograph and even praised Nathaniel's drawings. Just then a young woman in her early thirties arrived.

"Life imitates art and so acting imitates life", she said.

"Not that idiot again," Darrell rolled his eyes.

"I've seen her before, she is...," Ladybug started as she was cut by Chloe.

"She's Eloise Pacquet," Chloe said, "a renowned actress".

"Apparently she is going to star in a Spanish film based on Pablo Picasso. Maybe that's why she's here today," Marc said.

"You're spot on kid," Eloise nodded, "We begin filming next month".

"You speak Spanish?" Adrien asked.

"Eloise speaks many European languages," Gabriel told him.

"Nice to meet you Gabriel," Eloise greeted said as Gabriel nodded.

"On with the tour," Jacques intruded in their conversation.

* * *

**Author's Note** \- The characters other than the ones in the show are fictional and are not based on anyone. Also the spellings are in American English. The second chapter will

be posted either today itself or tomorrow. = )


	2. Chapter 2 - Masterpiece

The second chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Masterpiece**

"What about the other people?" Adrien inquired as the tour continued.

"There is hardly anyone here, except for us," Jacques answered, "Most probably only those who were lucky to get the passes just like your friends."

"How did you two even get those passes?" Chloe asked.

"Well...they liked my drawings and they liked the comics that Marc and I make together...so we got them and since it was Marinette who had discovered our talent and brought us together, we decided to get her one as well," Nathaniel explained.

"But she didn't show up, did she?" Chloe had a smirk.

"She said she had some work in the bakery since her parents are out," Marc replied.

"Whatever and how did your work even get appreciated, it's so..."

"It's amazing, don't you think so Ladybug?" Adrien interrupted.

"Yes, it is, I've read some of your comics as well," Ladybug said in a slip of a tongue.

"You've read our comics?" Nathaniel seemed pleasantly surprised.

"Well I...,"Ladybug trailed off.

"That's awesome," Marc said excitedly.

"How did you know about their comics?" Adrien asked.

"Marinette…" Ladybug continued, "…Marinette showed them to me when….when we happened to meet one day. I…was…telling her how much I like comics s…so she recommended yours".

"You know Marinette?" Nathaniel looked impressed.

"Yeah, she's a good friend of mine," Ladybug smiled crookedly.

_'Crap! That was close!'_Ladybug told herself.

"Amazing," Marc piped in.

"She's not worth it, I assure you Ladybug, I have a better collection of comics. I could lend you some," Chloe changed the topic.

"Thanks, Chloe," Ladybug was trying her best to be polite.

_'M'Lady loves comics just like me! We really do have a lot in common,'_Adrien thought.

"And our tour is over," Jacques announced, "You may go and see anything you like. Feel free to explore."

"Ladybug, do you want to see the painting?" Charles asked.

"Sure,"Ladybug nodded.

Charles escorted her and the others to one of the rooms above and everyone followed. The dim-lit room was filled with paintings which were incomplete. It was a bit cramped and dusty with paint bottles scattered all over the floor and brushes covered in colorful paints. Charles approached a covered canvas, which was the size of a king-sized bed. Next to the huge canvas was a palette mixed with colors of red and black. Two palette knives were deeply covered in dark red and were placed next to the canvas. On the side facing the canvas were the translucent windows. There was a cupboard adjacent to the windows. A mannequin bearing the figure of a male was kept next to the cupboard which Charles used for his facial paintings. There was a door to the right of the windows.

"I apologize for the lights, the electricity hasn't been working well in this room," Charles apologized.

"Laura, you should have done something about this!" Jacques said.

Laura attempted to give a reason but Charles cut her.

"It's not her fault, I was too caught up with work that I forgot to tell her about it," he said as he pulled out the cloth covering the canvas. A painting of Ladybug and Chat Noir in action with a backdrop of the Seine River was revealed.

"It's beautiful. Is it an impressionist form of art?" Ladybug.

"I see you have a keen eye for art Ladybug," Charles was smiling.

"Amazing," Adrien, Nathaniel, and Marcpiped in together while Chloe took a picture with her phone.

"I am going to shift it downstairs," Charles told them.

"What do you think, Gabriel?" Jacques inquired.

"Charles will be revealing it to the public in a couple of days," Laura informed.

Gabriel didn't like the idea of the amount of praise his nemeses were receiving but decided to stay calm.

"It is exceptional, Charles," Gabriel replied

"It might do well at an auction," Darrell suggested.

"Not so fast, Mr. Lefebvre," Kristina intercepted, "I can make a deal with you Charles."

"I'm sorry but this painting is not getting sold, it's for display and will be kept in the Louvre museum after it is unveiled to the public."

"And what is this?" Eloise pointing to another painting of Charles' which was made entirely of geometric shapes.

"That is my masterpiece," Charles argued.

"Your masterpiece?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

"It's a mosaic painting full of geometric shapes," Nathaniel pointed out.

"Indeed a masterpiece," Marc agreed.

"The geometric shapes are arranged in such a way that it looks as if though the painting has a message and the shapes are all closed ones," Ladybug was looking at the painting with squinted eyes.

"You really do have a keen eye Ladybug, I'm impressed," Charles noted, again.

_'Well actually, I have incorporated some mosaic art into my designs,'_Ladybug said to herself.

"What message?" Chloe was confused.

"I can't disclose it, I haven't finished it yet," Charles explained.

"It looks finished though," Adrien said.

"Thanks for the compliment Adrien, but I believe some finishing is left," Charles told him.

"Oh and the name of this masterpiece is 'Egregious'," Charles remembered.

"It is egregious after all," Kristina said in a rebuking tone.

"Charles, why don't you join our film crew, you could do so much," Eloise offered.

"No thanks Eloise, I don't like to go beyond painting," Charles refused.

"Such a shame. Maybe you don't realize that acting is art. A movie is just like a painting, except that the painting moves," Eloise pressed her point.

"Not that rubbish again," Darrell scoffed, rolling his eyes.

* * *

A few minutes later, everyone was scattered throughout the gallery observing the art which was familiar to them. Colorful interior designs adorned the white walls of the gallery. There were four spare rooms including the two rooms above, the one where Charles kept his finished paintings and one where he did his paintings. The remaining two rooms on the ground floor were smaller and used as store-rooms. The various types of art on display contributed to the brightness and vibrant background of the Gallery.

Gabriel Agreste took out a piece of paper and a pen and walked up to Ladybug who was studying some of the mosaic paintings at a corner, but Chloe got to her first and pulled Ladybug with her for a selfie. Gabriel crunched the paper in his fist, while Adrien wondered what was wrong with him.

"Father, are you alright?" Adrien asked.

"Yes Adrien. Why don't you go with your friends and explore the gallery? I have some work to do Charles," Gabriel left Adrien alone.

"Yes Father," Adrien replied.

_'Explore the gallery with my friends? What has gotten into Father?'_Adrien thought as he walked towards Chloe and Ladybug. Ladybug was trying her best to be polite to Chloe and Adrien could sense her uneasiness.

"Chloe, your father is calling you," Adrien interrupted.

"Wait here Ladybug, don't go anywhere," Chloe said, as she rushed outside whilst Adrien winked at Ladybug.

"Thank you Adrien," Ladybug thanked him heartfully, realizing his cue.

"You're welcome M'L...I mean Ladybug,"Adrien.

After a moment of silence Adrien spoke up, "So you really do have a keen eye for art."

"Yeah, I guess so," Ladybug replied.

"Then you would have a keen eye for acting as well," Eloise said as she approached them.

"I really don't know much about that…" Ladybug scratched her head.

"Ladybug, do you know the one attribute that art and acting share?" Eloise raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know," Ladybug answered.

"Ego," Eloise whispered.

"There's always a story behind every art form, Ladybug", she went on further, "Even Charles' masterpiece would have a story".

"Well he said that it isn't finished yet," Ladybug reminded her.

"You see Ladybug, Charles loves to experiment with different art forms and blend them together. I've known him for quite some time now and there is not one painting he creates that has only one form of art."

"You mean to say that he uses more than one art form in his paintings?"

"Precisely," Eloise nodded.

"That's why he said that the painting wasn't finished," Adrien realized.

"Exactly," Eloise said, "You know, the same thing applies to acting as well. A movie has many characters, each having a unique attribute but they belong to the same movie."

"Please do not spread your acting influence to these youngsters here," Darrell said as he walked upto them.

"Excuse me but I must go see Jacques," Eloise excused herself, ignoring Darrell.

"Um...Ladybug let's join Marc and Nathaniel," Adrien suggested.

* * *

Ladybug, Adrien, Marc, and Nathaniel were staring at the portrait of Ladybug and Chat Noir in awe. The painting had been moved downstairs moments ago.

"I wish Chat Noir was here to see this," Ladybug sighed.

_'He's right next to you M'Lady,'_Adrien said to himself.

"Thinking about it, Eloise is right, if you look at Charles's paintings carefully, there is more than one art form," Ladybug pointed to the painting of her and Chat Noir.

"I thought you mentioned it as an impressionist art form," Marc reminded her.

"Yes, I did, but if you look carefully, you'll see that the background is abstract, which is another art form," Ladybug explained.

"You really know a lot about art, don't you?" Nathaniel said.

_'I usually study these forms whilst doing fashion designing,'_Ladybug thought to herself.

"I read about it sometime ago," Ladybug made an excuse. Then she and Adrien went off leaving Marc and Nathaniel to study some more paintings.

"This doesn't make sense," Darrell walking talking to someone on the phone. His voice caught Ladybug and Adrien's attention.

"God damn it!" Darrell cursed as he put his phone down and walked off.

"What a troubled young man," Laura walked towards Ladybug and Adrien.

"Troubled?" Ladybug's eyes knitted.

"He's really egoistic, so is Kristina. They've known each other since their University time," Laura told them.

"They both went to the same University?" Ladybug seemed surprised.

"Yes, Charles, Kristina, and Darrell went to the same University to study arts. Charles told me."

"Oh I see, they don't seem to get along," Adrien nodded.

"Yes, Kristina and Darrell have been having an animosity for quite a long time now."

"An animosity?" Ladybug asked.

"It mostly stems from jealousy."

"Yes, as usual. It's a pain to see them in the same gallery," Jacques said, coming from behind.

"You know them quite well."

"You see, Charles joined my gallery and my studio as well. We both have been in business for ten years now. I met Darrell at an auction where Kristina happened to be there and Charles told me about them. They tend to overpower each other," Jacques said.

"It sounds more like a childish rivalry if you ask me," Laura gave her point of view.

"That's how things are when people have ego problems," Jacques said.

Just then Gabriel Agreste descended the stairs.

"You finished your work with Charles?" Adrien inquired as Gabriel approached him

"No Adrien, I'll do it some other day, we'll be leaving," Gabriel answered.

Adrien sighed dejectedly at the thought of going home, far away from his Lady.

"Ladybug, it was indeed an honor to meet you today," Gabriel Agreste took out a paper and a pen.

"You won't be staying back tonight for the unveiling of the Ladybug and Chat Noir picture?" Laura.

"It's tonight?" Gabriel asked.

"Not in front of the public but in front of the other guests with passes other than these two boys," Laura pointed to Marc and Nathaniel.

"If that's the case then...change of plans Adrien, we'll leave immediately after the unveiling," Gabriel ordered.

Adrien smiled radiantly at the thought of staying a bit longer as Gabriel sighed as he put his pen and paper in his coat compartment. Gabriel looked around to see Charles exiting the room through the translucent windows of the upper rooms.

"Egregious is finished," Charles announced as he came down the stairs.

"Excellent," Jacques beamed as everyone gathered near the stairs.

"So the unveiling of your masterpiece as well as Ladybug and Chat Noir's picture in front of the public will be done next week itself?" Laura .

"Precisely," Charles nodded, "Excuse me but I need to check some things before the Ladybug and Chat Noir picture is unveiled tonight. Ah, and Gabriel, you wanted to tell me something"

"Yes," Gabriel said as he went up the stairs with Charles.

"Laura, let's go and check all the details in the studio," Jacques started heading out , "I'll just be back."

"Let's go and see some more paintings," Marc pulled Nathaniel with him.

"I'll just be outside with Officer Raincomprix, please let me know if you need me,"said Mayor Bourgeois as he walked outside.

"Adrikins, Ladybug, you both are coming with me," Chloe pulled them near the sculptures which were diagonally under the translucent windows.

"Well I need to use the restroom," Kristina left Eloise and Darrell near the stairs.

Eloise opened her mouth to say something but Darrell beat her to it, "Never mind, whatever you say next is not worth it."

* * *

As Chloe stood near the sculptures taking selfies with Ladybug and Adrien, Gabriel came downstairs and then went outside to join the Mayor. Meanwhile Jacques came back from the studio and came face to face with Darrell as Eloise watched on. Ladybug listened with attention as Chloe went on taking the selfies.

"So Darrell, are you having a good time?" Jacques asked.

"Excuse me, but I must settle an old score with Charles," Darrell told them, ignoring him as he walked up to the stairs to Charles' room.

"Just a moment, I'll be back," Ladybug excused herself, wanting to leave Chloe. But little did she realize that she left poor Adrien with Chloe.

Ladybug walked up to the stairs and entered the room where Charles kept his finished paintings. The painting of her and Chat Noir was to be kept in this room this evening. She studied the paintings and saw Charles's masterpiece, Egregious.

'_It is finished so maybe that's why Charles kept it in this room,' _said Ladybug to herself. The room looked a lot like the one where the unfinished paintings were kept but cleaner. The electricity in this room was working much better unlike the adjacent room where Charles worked on his paintings. Everything in the room was arranged neatly in an ordered manner, unlike the other room. There were translucent windows as well, with a door to the left of the windows. Ladybug was about to leave the room when she heard a loud voice coming from the other room. She pressed her ears to the wall.

"See reason, Charles," Darrell argued.

"No Darrell, this painting will not go for auction sales and I refuse to sign the contract," Charles contradicted.

"You've always been naive Charles, never wanting to expand your business, rather wanting to expand your passion," Darrell spat as he opened the door and banged it with a thud.

_'Poor Charles,'_Ladybug thought to herself. She opened the door and went walked a few centimeters before she bumped into Darrell at the start of the staircase. The noise caught Adrien's attention as he looked up.

"Ladybug, my apologies," Darrell apologized.

"No, it's my fault, I'm clumsy," Ladybug said.

"No worries," Darrell continued, "Your painting is indeed beautiful, but I think you are more beautiful in person."

"Thanks for the compliment," Ladybug said quickly, trying to avoid him.

Adrien who was able to hear their conversation felt a sudden rush of anger run through him. He left Chloe and ascended the stairs.

"Ladybug, Chloe wants to take a selfie with you", he said.

"Alright, I'll come," Ladybug called out, thanking Adrien once again in a whisper.

_'Anything for you M'Lady,'_ Adrien told himself as he escorted her down the stairs. Darrell descended soon afterward and went to the restroom. Just then Jacques ascended the stairs while Gabriel came back inside with the Mayor. Chloe had now dragged Adrien and Ladybug to another area.

"Darrell's handsome, isn't he?"Chloe commented after a few minutes of silence.

"I guess he is," Ladybug shrugged, as jealousy swept over Adrien.

"Well he is too unpleasant though isn't he?" Adrien.

"Yes and too egoistic," Ladybug added.

"Oh that just adds more panache to his character," Chloe said dreamily.

"Are you alright Ladybug, I saw Darrell making you uncomfortable," Adrien looked concerned.

"Don't worry Adrien, I am fine," Ladybug smiled as her head drooped.

"What's wrong Ladybug?" Adrien inquired as Jacques descended the stairs.

"I don't know, I am a little bit out of sorts today," Ladybug gave a shaky laugh, as she saw Kristina ascending the stairs.

_'But why? I am here in front of the boy whom I've liked so long and I haven't even stuttered an ounce!_' Ladybug thought.

"Are you missing someone?" Adrien hid his smirk. Ladybug looked up to him in surprise.

_'Missing someone? Chat Noir, maybe?' _

"No, I am not...," Ladybug said, watching Laura ascending the stairs with a tray of refreshments. '_Most probably for Charles...'_ she thought.

"I am fine Adrien, don't worry," Ladybug said, smiling.

Just then Laura came running down the stairs panting heavily.

"What happened?" Ladybug asked as she walked towards Laura.

"I just overheard a conversation between Kristina and Charles when I kept the refreshment tray in the other room. I ran as quickly as I could because I didn't want to be rude by overhearing," Laura panted, as she held her hands to her knees.

"Apparently Charles refused to sell the painting to Kristina," Laura finished.

"Do you have to spread the news?" Kristina said, coming out of the room.

"Laura, is Charles upstairs?" the Mayor asked as he ascended the stairs.

"Mr. Mayor, Charles will have his snack in a moment, I think it would be best to see him later," Laura suggested.

"Alright then," the Mayor nodded.

"Well, I don't care," Eloise remarked as she ascended the stairs and went inside Charles' room.

"But, Charles is...,"Laura was cut by Darrell.

"Forget it, she never listens," Darrell sighed.

Just then a scream was heard and everybody ascended the stairs. Officer Raincomprix opened the door to find Eloise in a shocking state and at the back behind a canvas which was adjacent to the door, lay Charles' dead body. Blood oozed out from his neck and his fingers lay stretched.

* * *

Note - Please review so that I can make my stories better.

The third and fourth chapters will be out on Wednesday, 26th June = )


	3. Chapter 3 - Reasons

**Chapter 3 - Reasons**

"No?" Officer Raincomprix asked "But why?"

"Last time was a different story," Ladybug said, as she stood next to a statue on the ground floor. Officer Raincomprix and the Mayor were standing behind her. Meanwhile, on a sofa behind them, Laura was comforting Eloise who was still recovering from the shocking scene she had just witnessed. In the room upstairs, the police were taking photographs and the position where Charles' dead body was found was being chalked. Jacques was seated with his hands on his head, while Chloe was sitting down on the ground with her legs near her chin. Marc and Nathaniel sat together holding the hands of each other while Adrien comforted them. Darrell was pacing about the gallery and Kristina stood motionless with her head against the wall. Gabriel Agreste who was on the phone now walked up to the Mayor.

"Mr. Mayor, I shall remain here but Adrien must go," Gabriel explained.

"Very well, I'll call for a car. Chloe and Adrien can go to the Le Grand Paris Hotel together," the Mayor replied.

"Good," Gabriel gave a nod as he walked towards the sofa where Adrien was sitting with Marc and Nathaniel.

"Adrien, a car will be arriving, you are to go with Chloe to the Le Grand Paris Hotel," Gabriel informed.

"But...father," Adrien protested.

"No Adrien, I don't want anything to happen to you," Gabriel cut him off.

"Yes…Father," Adrien sighed as his head drooped.

* * *

"We need your help with this Ladybug," Officer Raincomprix said.

"I can't," Ladybug refused.

"But last time, you proved Chat Noir's innocence and caught the culprit, what was his name again?" Officer Raincomprix scratched his head.

Adrien and Chloe were leaving when the conversation between Ladybug and Officer Raincomprix caught Adrien's attention.

"His name was Yuri Martin and I only did it last time because Chat Noir was in trouble. He is my partner and I'll do anything to save him. Besides that, I am a superhero, not a detective. This time, the case should be left in the hands of the police or a sleuth," Ladybug answered.

"Ladybug, please help us," it was the Mayor this time.

"Mr. Mayor?" Ladybug seemed surprised.

"You have to help us, one of those people over there is the killer and just thinking about it makes me terrified. I don't trust anyone except for you Ladybug," the Mayor pressed on.

Ladybug looked at the people, some of whom were sitting on the sofa and some of whom were standing. She then averted her gaze to the room upstairs where Charles was found dead. She looked at the Officer and the Mayor and finally spoke.

"Alright, I'll help you," Ladybug gave in.

"Thank you Ladybug," the Mayor exhaled in relief.

"Just give me a minute," Ladybug started walking away.

"Where are you going Ladybug?" asked Adrien.

"Outside, I need some fresh air and I need to make a call," Ladybug replied.

"Ladybug I trust you, you'll be able to do this," Chloe said with a smile.

"Thanks, Chloe," Ladybug thanked placing her hand on Chloe's shoulder.

'Who are you going to call?" Adrien inquired.

"Chat Noir," Ladybug replied.

"Chat Noir?" Chloe scoffed.

"If I am going to solve this case, I'll need his help," Ladybug said.

Adrien looked down dejectedly thinking about the fact that Chat Noir wasn't going to be able to help his Lady. As he lamented on the situation, an idea struck him.

"Alright Ladybug, we'll be off," Adrien waved as he and Chloe went in the car.

* * *

Adrien and Chloe reached her room on the topmost floor of Le Grand Paris.

"Chloe, I don't feel well, can I go and sleep in a guest room?"

"That's unfortunate Adrikins, we could have played something."

"Chloe, please," Adrien was almost begging.

"Fine, Jean Claude will show you to your room," she said.

A few moments later butler Jean escorted Adrien to another room.

"Is there anything else you need Monsieur?" asked Jean.

"No, thanks," Adrien smiled as Jean went out of the room.

"Don't tell me that you plan to lock the room, transform and help Ladybug," Plagg groaned.

"You're right Plagg," Adrien agreed as he locked the room from the inside.

"Plagg, CLAWS OUT"

Chat Noir went out to the balcony and read the messages Ladybug had sent him on his baton. He leaped from building to building using his staff.

* * *

Ladybug was about to go back inside the gallery when Chat Noir landed in front of her. She smiled at seeing him.

_'Why am I so happy to see him?' _Ladybug asked herself.

"I got your message," Chat Noir told her,

"Did you miss me M'Lady?," he asked, a smirk forming on his face. "I had a fun time at the Party and I danced with some girls as well."

_'He danced with some girls!' _said Ladybug to herself as she felt uneasy.

"But you're the only one I was thinking about," Chat Noir kissed her knuckles as he winked at her. Ladybug could feel a small blush from under her mask.

"Chat Noir, I sent a message with all the details about the people and the situation. This case is really serious," Ladybug snatched her hand away.

"Your message was long. But don't worry, I read everything M'Lady, " Chat Noir winked.

'_I already saw everything as well,' _said Chat Noir to himself.

"Let's go inside," Ladybug sighed.

As soon as they went inside, the Mayor came up to them.

"Chat Noir, it's so good to see you here. But what are you doing here?" asked the Mayor.

"He's here to help me," Ladybug told them as the others rose from their places.

"So this is the famous Chat Noir," Darrell approached them.

"Hi," Chat Noir greeted them, as Ladybug looked at him in disbelief.

"Seeing you here, is a great relief," Marc said, as Nathaniel nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let's get to work LB," Chat Noir commanded as the duo went up to the stairs.

"Charles was found dead behind this canvas," Ladybug pointed to the chalk line.

"There's something I did notice, if one were to simply open the door without looking around, then one wouldn't be able to see Charles' dead body," Ladybug informed him.

"Then you're saying that when Eloise opened the door, she looked around?" Chat Noir gave her a questioning look.

"Eloise is interested in art, and I am sure her eyes were transfixed on the painting on this canvas, it's adjacent to the door, and can catch your eye," Ladybug replied.

"Then while she was looking at the canvas, she saw a dead body behind it," Chat Noir looked impressed.

"She happened to see it," Ladybug said.

'What do you mean?" Chat Noir asked again.

"Look at the position in which the dead body had been placed. It had been placed in such a way that it's difficult to see and the absence of CCTV cameras and the dim lights in this room add to the complexity."

"Wow, this killer is smart," said Chat Noir as he and Ladybug exited the room.

* * *

The evening was over, the sun had set and darkness now prevailed outside. This added to the worry of all the people downstairs.

"Listen, I've already told the other people with passes to leave as they were never in this section of the gallery. Unfortunately, you all have to remain here until Ladybug and Chat Noir solve this case," Officer Raincomprix announced.

"You two are free to go if you wish," Officer Raincomprix addressed Marc and Nathaniel.

"No, I need their help for something," Ladybug stopped the officer, as Chat Noir raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"We'll be happy to be of assistance Ladybug," Nathaniel spoke for both him and Marc.

"Chat Noir, it's good to see you here," Gabriel Agreste greeted.

"Why? Thank you Mr. Agreste," Chat Noir thanked him.

As Ladybug and Chat Noir went up the stairs with Marc and Nathaniel, Gabriel Agreste found himself to be in the same crisis again; crisis in the sense that he felt the urge to support his enemies in this case. '_It's only a case. I will still be their enemy tomorrow!'_

* * *

"Why are we in the other room and not the room where Charles' dead body was discovered?" asked Marc.

"That's because Charles' masterpiece, Egregious was kept in here once he finished working on it earlier this evening," Ladybug explained.

"He worked so hard, and now he's...," Nathaniel was trying his best to control his tears. "He was my idol".

Ladybug put her hand on his shoulder, "I know and that's why you're going to help me bring justice to him".

"Yes, we have to figure out who did this awful thing and why," Chat Noir said staring at her hand.

"But what does the masterpiece have to do with this?" asked Marc.

"If you remember, earlier this evening, Charles told us that there was a message hidden in his mosaic painting," Ladybug reminded.

"But it's painted entirely of geometric shapes and the size of the shapes is so small, if we look at it from a distance, each shape looks like a dot!" exclaimed Nathaniel.

The mosaic painting was made entirely of tiny closed geometric shapes that had been scattered throughout the canvas. The background color was a mixture of orange, green and pink whereas the tiny shapes were painted in black.

"I don't see how this painting has a message," Marc said, "Maybe Charles was just telling a joke."

"But I have read about paintings, and I figured there might be a message and Charles told me I was right," Ladybug was looking at the painting with full focus.

"Maybe he was joking with you," Nathaniel shrugged.

"It could be a joke but he did appear a bit serious back then," Ladybug said.

"Maybe something to do with his signature," Chat Noir pointed to Charles signature which was painted in white on the right corner at the top.

"Most artists put their signatures on their paintings and designs," Nathaniel told him.

"Right, I am sorry, I don't know anything about art. I don't think I'll be of any help to you Ladybug," Chat Noir apologized.

"Don't say that, I'll need your help in this," she said as she looked at Chat Noir in the eye with tears forming at the rim of her eye.

"Ladybug, if you don't mind, I must call my parents," Nathaniel excused himself as he and Marc went out of the room.

"No worries," Ladybug called out loudly, as she turned back to face Chat Noir.

"M'Lady, what's wrong with you?," Chat Noir sounded concerned.

"I don't know. Let's go and interrogate everyone, we might be able to gather some clues," Ladybug said walking away.

* * *

"I don't know anything," Darrell announced tartly.

"She hasn't even started asking you anything," Chat Noir said bluntly as he, Ladybug and Darrell stood near the statues.

"Did you see anything odd at the crime scene?" asked Ladybug.

"Nothing at all," Darrell answered ignorantly.

"Can you reveal to us your conversation with Charles before he got killed?" Ladybug interrogated politely.

"That's none of your business," Darrell shouted at Ladybug.

His uproar made Chat Noir angry and he caught Darrell by his collar and looked at him in the eye.

"Excuse me mister but she can hear you without you having to shout."

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug scolded him softly.

"You have no right to talk to Ladybug like that," Chat Noir said a little less loudly this time and don't forget we have the power and the authority to question you," finished Chat Noir.

"Alright, fine," Darrell surrendered as Chat Noir released his collar.

"I happened to overhear a conversation that went on between you and Charles, whereby Charles refused to let a painting go for sale. Which painting was he referring to, or rather, which painting were you wanting to sell at an auction?" Ladybug questioned.

"His masterpiece, 'Egregious'. He had already refused to sell the Ladybug and Chat Noir painting. That man was so naive, he never understood anything," Darrell continued, "He could have gained a huge fortune if he had sold that painting at an auction. With Charles' skill, anyone would bid on it".

"But he refused. What was that contract all about?"

"How much have you heard Ladybug?" Darrell asked.

"Only four sentences," Ladybug replied firmly.

"Were you spying on us?" Darrell accused her.

"I just happened to overhear you, Mr. Lefebvre. Now answer the question," Ladybug said.

"It was an exclusive contract. I wanted Charles to sign it so that all of his paintings could have been sold at the auction," Darrell explained.

"All of his paintings?" Chat Noir was surprised.

"Yes, he would have benefited from it but he never wanted to expand his business. Well he is dead now," Darrell rolled his eyes.

"Thank you, Mr. Lefebvre," Ladybug thanked as she walked towards the others with Chat Noir.

"Wait a minute Ladybug," Chat Noir as he pulled her by the wrist to an empty corner.

"Is something the matter Chat Noir?" asked Ladybug.

"Yes. How could you be so reckless?" Chat Noir replied.

"What do you mean?"

"You never told me in your message that you overheard the conversation between Charles and Darrell."

"I forgot to…" Ladybug answered.

"There's never telling what people like Darrell can do. If anything happens to you...,"Chat Noir was cut off by Ladybug.

"I saved you last time from those kinds of people."

"You should be more careful M'Lady," Chat Noir adviced, holding her hand in his own causing Ladybug to blush a bit.

"A murderer can be more dangerous than an akkumatised victim," Chat Noir whispered.

"Don't worry Chat, I'll be more careful," Ladybug was greeted by a smiling Chat Noir.

"Let's proceed with the investigation. Who do you want to question next?", Chat Noir asked.

"Let's go in this order; we'll start with Gabriel Agreste, and then will ask Jacques and Laura and finally the Mayor," said Ladybug.

"And what about Eloise and Kristina?" Chat Noir inquired.

"We'll ask them later. I want to check the room again," Ladybug begun walking away again.

"The room?," asked Chat Noir.

"The one where Charles died," Ladybug added.

"But the electricity isn't working and it's pitched black now," Chat Noir said.

"Not with your night vision. I told you, you'll always be of help," Ladybug winked, making Chat Noir blush deeply.

_'I love this girl!_' he said to himself as they walked to where the others where.

"Mr. Agreste, would you mind if I asked you a few questions?" Ladybug asked.

"Not at all, let's go somewhere and talk," Gabriel told her.

"Did you notice anything strange Mr. Agreste?" Ladybug began the interrogation as the three stood near the abstract paintings.

"No, after Charles came downstairs to announce that his masterpiece was over, I was the first one to go upstairs," Gabriel replied.

"You had some work with him?" Chat Noir asked.

"My fashion house is going to borrow some of his paintings to be used as a background design for my senior models. Charles liked the concept and he agreed," Gabriel answered ,"And after we use them, we were going to return the paintings to him."

"Wait a minute, you were the first to go upstairs," Ladybug stopped him.

"So?," asked Chat Noir.

"Chat Noir, a lot of people went upstairs. First Mr. Agreste, then Darrell Lefebvre and Jacques Charpentier," Ladybug informed him.

"Then Kristina Segal and finally Eloise Pacquet. When Eloise went inside, we heard her scream and then Charles' dead body was discovered," Gabriel told them.

"And at the same time Darrell went upstairs to meet Charles, I went upstairs to the other room and Laura went to another room at the same time Kristina went to Charles' room," Ladybug looked up, "Thank you, Mr. Agreste, once again, your excellent memory skills have been of help to me again."

_'Of Help? To Ladybug?_' Gabriel thought.

"Well I'll be off, good luck with your investigation," Gabriel said walking away.

"Have you figured something Ladybug?" asked Chat Noir.

"Hardly anything," Ladybug smiled.

"Well, then we're going to interrogate Laura and Jacques, right?"

"Yes," Ladybug nodded.

* * *

"Did you guys see anything odd?" Ladybug began the questionnaire yet again.

"No, not really. I went upstairs to see how Charles was doing, he was just shifting his masterpiece to the other room. Then we just talked about our contract," Jacques answered.

"Contract?" Ladybug questioned.

"Three years ago, he and I signed a contract that he would be working for my studio. The contract expires in another two years, but Charles wanted to extend the contract to another two years and I agreed," Jacques explained.

"That means the contract would expire after four years from today," Chat Noir calculated.

"Precisely, but...," Jacques lowered his gaze at the ground.

"I am so sorry Mr. Charpentier," Ladybug comforted him.

"You went upstairs to the other room at the same time Kristina Segal went in, didn't you?," asked Chat Noir addressing Laura.

"Yes, I always put Charles's refreshments in the other room. I have been doing so since the time he has been working at this gallery," Laura told them.

"But when I went upstairs with Ladybug, Marc and Nathaniel to the other room where Charles' finished paintings are kept, the refreshments weren't there," Chat Noir said.

"I threw them in the trash after Charles' dead body was discovered."

"Okay, Ms. Petit, Thank you so much," Ladybug thanked as she and Chat Noir walked up to the Mayor.

"Mr. Mayor, did you see anything suspicious?" Chat Noir interrogated.

"No, I saw nothing of the sort," the Mayor shook his head.

"Why did you want to see Charles?" Ladybug questioned.

"Chloe and I weren't going to be able to be present for the private unveiling tonight because we had a plane to catch. So I wanted to apologize to Charles," the Mayor answered.

"Plane to catch?" Chat Noir wrinkled his eyebrows. '_Chloe never told me she was going somewhere!'_

"We are going to New York for a week to meet Audrey. Chloe didn't want to go and she threw a tantrum," the Mayor gave a tired sigh.

_'That's why she didn't tell me,' _Chat Noir thought slightly pleased that she'd be going away for a week.

"But now with this situation, I've postponed out flight for tomorrow", the Mayor said.

"Thank you, Mr. Mayor," Ladybug gave a thankful nod and she and Chat walked away.

"Why did we even have to interrogate him, he knew nothing," Chat Noir complained.

"Small details can go unnoticed by some and can be noticed by others. It's important that we ask everyone," Ladybug said.

"You're right," Chat Noir agreed as they approached the staircase.

"There are two rooms; one where Charles works on his paintings and one where he keeps his finished paintings. Let's check both the rooms. We'll start with the room where the finished paintings are kept," Ladybug ordered him.

"What about interrogating Kristina and Eloise?" Chat Noir inquired.

"They are going to have to wait a bit longer," Ladybug answered as she and Chat Noir went up the stairs.

* * *

Note - The fourth chapter will be out tomorrow (26th June)


	4. Chapter 4 - The Message

The fourth chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 4 - The Message**

Ladybug and Chat Noir opened the door to the room where Charles' dead body was discovered and Ladybug shut the door.

"Why did you close the door?" asked Chat Noir.

"I don't want anyone to come in by mistake, we have to investigate this room thoroughly. Use your night vision Chat Noir," Ladybug ordered.

"I see a mannequin adjacent to the cupboard, near the translucent windows," Chat Noir pointed in the direction.

"Chat Noir come here, this is the same spot where the painting of you and me was kept. What do you see?"

"A palette and two palette knives."

"Anything else?"

"No nothing else around here and the room's dusty around here. Wait, there's a door to the right of the windows," Chat Noir answered.

"Okay, let's open it, I bet it will lead us to the other room," Ladybug guessed.

"The other room?" asked Chat Noir.

"Yes, the one where Charles keeps his finished paintings. There was a door to the left of the windows in that room. Here the door is to the right of the windows. I knew that these two rooms were connected by an inside door," Ladybug replied as Chat Noir used his might to open the door. The door opened with a small creak.

"Ladies first," Chat Noir bowed.

"Thank you," Ladybug as she entered the room followed by Chat Noir.

"The electricity works better in here, and the lights are much brighter than in the other room," Chat Noir commented.

"Chat...We were in this room with Marc and Nathaniel an hour ago but this room has no CCTV camera," Ladybug reminded him. Chat Noir checked his baton.

"It's almost 9 pm," Chat Noir informed her.

"We didn't check that desk over there," Ladybug said, pointing to a desk.

"Let's check it then," Chat Noir suggested.

They opened the drawers one by one until Chat Noir opened a drawer which contained a few files. He went through the files one by one while Ladybug looked around for more clues.

"M'Lady, check this out," Chat Noir held out a paper, "This was the contract that Jacques was talking about,"Chat Noir.

"Yeah, poor Jacques," Ladybug took the file from Chat Noir.

"It's a shame that death brings an end to everything," Chat Noir said, shaking his head.

"Chat Noir, see this. There's another contract paper beneath this one," Ladybug shifted Darrell's contract.

"A contract to sell his paintings!"

"To Kristina Segal!" Ladybug exclaimed.

"So Charles wanted to sell his paintings to Kristina, which is why he rejected Darrell's offer," Chat Noir deduced.

"But Chat Noir, earlier this evening, when Laura brought the refreshments to this room, she overheard a conversation between Charles and Kristina. And she told me that Charles had refused to sell his paintings to Kristina. Then why did Charles keep this contract in this file?"

"Maybe he changed his mind?"

"But how could he? He was discovered dead minutes later," Ladybug argued.

"You're right, this is indeed a mystery," Chat Noir put the file back in the drawer.

"We have to interrogate Kristina, I bet you she is the key to the solution of this mystery," Ladybug was saying as she tripped over an object.

"Ladybug!" Chat Noir shouted as he caught her. There was an awkward silence for a moment as they looked into each other's eyes.

"You really ought to be more careful," Chat Noir blushed.

"Thanks," Ladybug looked away as he released her.

"What was that anyway?" asked Chat Noir.

"An extinguished candle?" Ladybug said as she picked it up.

"Maybe Charles was using it for working on his paintings in the other room because there was no electricity."

"Yeah, or maybe he was trying to melt some wax."

"Melt some wax?" Chat Noir inquired.

"Most painters, use wax paint, so I guess Charles was trying to do the same," Ladybug replied.

"You know a lot about art."

Ladybug smiled as she took some ash from the candlestick with her fingers.

"Not much wax has been melted; he probably lit it for a brief moment," Ladybug commented.

"Alright, let's get going, we have to interrogate Kristina. We'll use the door that leads us to the stairs," Chat Noir said and Ladybug nodded in agreement. Just then some ash went into Ladybug's eye and she tried to rub it off.

"Ladybug what happened?" Chat Noir asked with concern as he took the candle from her and kept it on the desk.

"Nothing, just a little bit ash went into my eye," Ladybug was trying to wipe it out of her eye.

"You really should be careful, should I blow hot air into your eye? It usually helps," Chat Noir offered.

"No need, I am fine," Ladybug said opening her eyes slowly as she fixed her gaze on Charles' masterpiece, 'Egregious'.

"Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes, I am more than fine," she was still staring at the painting, "…I got it!"

"Got what?"

"The message! The message of the masterpiece Egregious!" Ladybug answered excitedly.

"But, I thought it was a joke," Chat Noir squinted in confusion.

"Let's go and show it to everyone," Ladybug was smiling, as she lifted the canvas.

"Wait a minute M'Lady, you're not making any sense. What about Kristina?" Chat Noir called after her.

"Her interrogation can wait. This is more important," Ladybug announced. She and Chat Noir went downstairs holding the canvas.

* * *

"So there was a dumb message?" Darrell asked as Ladybug fixed the canvas.

"I don't see it," Jacques said.

"Is this some kind of joke? Right now is not the time to be joking around Ladybug," Kristina scolded her.

"This isn't a joke. The message is here, all you have to do is squint your eyes together and look carefully at the painting," Ladybug instructed them.

"I see a 3-D image when I do that. Wait! It's a word or something," Eloise exclaimed.

"I see it too!" Laura said.

"Me too!"

Everyone started to agree with Ladybug one by one.

"It's an auto stereogram," Ladybug informed them.

"It's what?" Darrell asked.

"An auto stereogram, it's a...,"Ladybug as she was cut off by Gabriel Agreste.

" It is a single-image stereogram, designed to create the visual illusion of a three-dimensional scene from a two-dimensional image. One can easily see it when one squints his eyes. This is difficult to create in a painting. I must say that Charles' was quite remarkable," Gabriel praised.

"And exceptionally talented too…But this word appears to be in cursive writing, I can't read it," Jacquessaid, trying his best to read it.

"It reads, 'sanbser'. All letters in lower case writing and yes it is difficult to read because of the cursive. Charles always uses more than just one art form in his painting,"Ladybug.

"I knew I was right, after all...,"Eloise as she was cut off by Darrell.

"Even then, what does it have to do with the murder? Charles drew that painting, even before he died," Darrell questioned.

"It has nothing to do with the murder. I just thought it would be nice if everyone were to know about Charles' message," Ladybug bit her lip.

"And the word, 'sanbser', has no meaning at all," Kristina rolled her eyes.

"Maybe a song, a name of a painting or a book or something else in another language other than French or English?" Marc suggested.

"Whatever! Ladybug, it is high time you stop wasting your time over trivial matters and focus on the investigation. You haven't even figured out anything and we can't be sitting here all night," Darrell complained.

"Please have some patience, Mr. Lefebvre. It is important for a detective to see every trivial matter as well. Because no matter what, there's only one truth that prevails eventually," Ladybug said..

"Yes, only one truth prevails and Ladybug, you'll soon realize that Darrell was the killer," Eloise commented, "You had so many motives to kill off poor Charles, he rejected your offer so many times."

"Hah! he rejected Kristina's offer as well. I bet she is the killer," Darrell said laughing heartlessly.

"Don't be ridiculous, I bet it was Gabriel Agreste," Kristina raised her eyebrows.

"I think you're the one being ridiculous here Kristina, you see Charles accepted my idea," Gabriel told her.

"Then maybe it was Charpentier."

"Don't be stupid Eloise, it could have been Darrell," Jacques argued.

"Or maybe the person who pointed her finger at me. Ladies and Gentlemen your killer is Eloise Pacquet," Darrell smirked.

"Shut up Mr. Lefebvre, you forgot Laura Petit here. I bet she's the one," Eloise interjected.

"You are all suspects," shouted Officer Raincomprix, "Now Ladybug would you please carry on with the investigation before these people lose their minds".

"Yes sir," Ladybug obeyed.

"We want to resume by asking Ms. Segal some questions," Chat Noir announced.

* * *

"You know about the contract?" Kristina looked shocked, they were now standing in the room where Charles' finished paintings were kept.

"Yes, it's here in this file," Chat Noir he took it out from the drawer.

"I didn't do it, I didn't kill him," Kristina broke down much to the surprise of the superheroes.

"I never said you did it," Ladybug comforted her, "Please ma'am, tell us what you know," she finished.

"Charles and I have always wanted to collaborate our business. He had an exclusive contract with Jacques but he also promised me that he would sell some of his paintings to me," she said as she choked with emotion.

"He had even made some of his paintings for me," Kristina sobbed.

"For you?" Ladybug was confused now.

"Charles and I were more than just acquaintances," Kristina wiped her tears.

"What!" exclaimed Ladybug and Chat Noir together.

"Then why did you call his masterpiece egregious?" Ladybug asked.

"I meant in a good way. I admired him and he...," Kristina trailed off.

"It's alright, I get it, you don't have to say anything else," Ladybug continued "I just want to ask you two questions".

"Ask me anything," Kristina told them as she wiped her tears.

"Did anyone else know about this contract?"

"No, Charles always kept it in this room and took it home when he left the gallery for the day. No one enters this room except for Laura, and that's only for the refreshments."

"Just one more question and I promise you can go down and if you want you can go home as well."

"No, I am staying here till the culprit is caught. What is your other question?"

"Can you reveal everything about your conversation with Charles before he was found dead," Ladybug inquired.

"I only went to check on him and he ignored me...," Kristina told them.

"Ignored you?" asked Chat Noir.

"His room was dark, he stood near the windows with his back facing me. I was just telling him to take care and that I would need the paintings next week, it was written in the contract," Kristina pointed at the file.

"He wasn't answering me so I shouted at him and asked him why he was rejecting to sell his paintings, I guess that's when Laura overheard," Kristina finished, "I thought he had canceled the deal and I exited the room in anger but now that I see the contract, I guess I was wrong."

"Did he say anything to you?"

"He didn't say anything to me and that's what caused my misunderstanding Ladybug. I bet he was just tired of talking and wanted to relax but I was too impatient so I left in anger. I am such an idiot". "And then moments later, he was found dead," Kristina began crying profusely as Ladybug did her best to comfort her.

* * *

"I bet Laura was snooping around in the other room and she saw the contract," Chat Noir said.

"But Laura's job is to just get refreshments," Ladybug contradicted

"She could have a motive, one can't say."

"That's a possibility."

"Anyways, we have to interrogate Eloise," Chat Noir reminded her.

"No, there's someone I want to talk with before we interrogate Eloise," Ladybug refused.

"Who?"

"Laura Petit."

"Are you trying to imply that she is the killer?" Chat Noir asked.

"What? No," Ladybug said, waving her hands.

"Then?"

"I just want to ask her some questions," Ladybug answered as she called out to Laura.

"Yes, how may I help you Ladybug?" asked Laura.

"The electricity in the room where Charles does his paintings hasn't been working," Ladybug started, "For how long?"

"For about three days now."

"Did you know about the contract between Charles and Kristina?" , she asked Laura as they walked towards the other.

"No," Laura shook her head. Everyone looked at Ladybug shockingly.

"What contract?" Darrell asked.

"Charles and I signed a contract two years ago; whereby he agreed to sell his paintings, except for the Ladybug and Chat Noir painting and the masterpiece," Kristina replied.

"Looks like something was going behind your back Jacques," Darrell gave a petty laugh.

"It's true that Charles didn't tell me about this but it's also true that he rejected all of your offers Darrell," Jacques shot back at him.

"Oh! Shut up," Darrell scoffed.

"Enough!" Ladybug commanded. Then she took Laura aside with her.

"I have one more question Ms. Petit."

"Yes, anything my dear," Laura nodded.

"What did you overhear earlier?"

"I believe Kristina was shouting at him. She was quite angry and then later when Eloise opened the door, Charles was found dead."

"Okay thank you Ms. Petit," Ladybug thanked.

"Ladybug, are you trying to imply that Kristina is our killer?" Laura asked.

"Thank you Ms. Petit," Ladybug ignored the question, smiling at Laura as she walked away.

Chat noir joined her, "Where are you going?"

"To see Officer Raincomprix," Ladybug answered.

"Why?"

"Chat Noir, I think I know how Charles was killed, I just need to confirm it," Ladybug replied as she walked to where Officer Raincomprix was stationed with the other policemen.

"Do you need something Ladybug?" Officer Raincomprix asked.

"Yes, I was wondering if you could show me the pictures of Charles' dead body," Ladybug replied.

"Yes, Ladybug," Officer Raincomprix handed her a tablet.

"Oh! I almost forgot, Ladybug, while you and Chat Noir were investigating the rooms upstairs, I told everyone about how Charles was killed," Officer Raincomprix informed as Ladybug was going through the pictures of Charles' dead body.

"How?"

"I got a phone from the forensic department. Charles' neck was slit by a palette knife," Officer Raincomprix answered.

"I knew it!"Ladybug exclaimed, "Do you also know how the killer did it?"

"No, I am afraid that's still a mystery to me."

"Very well, thanks Officer."

"Now what? Everyone knows how Charles was killed," Chat Noir said as she approached him.

"But I also know how the killer did it," Ladybug gave him a knowing smile.

"How?"

"Patience kitty, I'll tell you everything."

"Wait a minute M'Lady," Chat Noir held his hand up in the air, "Don't tell me, you've figured the motive or who it was."

"No I haven't," Ladybug denied. _'But I have a hunch about who the murderer could be!'_

Ladybug and Chat Noir went back inside the building. Marc and Nathaniel ran up to talk to them but Darrell got to them first.

"Enjoyed your stroll outside Ladybug?" Darrell continued, "I'm getting impatient here".

"You'll have to wait a bit longer Mr. Lefebvre, it takes time to investigate, it's not a piece of cake...,"Ladybug was cut off by Darrell.

"I don't care, I...," Darrell was by Chats interrupted Noir.

"Well then care, it's high time you get serious about something for once in your life. This is not a party where you can get impatient. A man has been murdered, please show some cooperation," Chat Noir said, angrily.

"Alright," Darrell shrugged as he walked away.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir, have you found anything?" Marc inquired.

"Yes I have and I'll disclose it you later," Ladybug nodded as the four of them stood in front of some paintings made by Charles.

Nathaniel touched one of the paintings with his hand, his fingers touching the signature of Charles on the left bottom of the painting.

"I wish something horrible like this didn't have to happen," Nathaniel sniffed as Marc comforted him.

"Ladybug let's go. Excuse me," Chat Noir said politely to Marc and Nathaniel,"Let's interrogate Eloise. And I'll ask her the questions this time."

"Okay kitty, I have only one question for her anyway."

* * *

"No, Chat Noir, I didn't see anything suspicious apart from Charles' dead body. It was quite shocking," Eloise answered right away.

"Is there anyone in particular whom you suspect?"

"Kristina, of course," Eloise answered, "She was there before me, so she must have killed Charles. Laura even said that the last person Charles talked to was Kristina."

"That's true, Kristina was the last person Charles talked to."

"Ms. Pacquet..."

"Eloise will do," Eloise said.

"Okay, Eloise. Gabriel Agreste mentioned earlier that you speak many European languages."

"Yes, I do and I am a student of art. Art is...," Eloise started.

"Yes Eloise Art is unique and I need you to use your linguist skills for art," Ladybug finished her sentence for her.

"Oh! I'd be delighted," Eloise's face lighted up.

"Remember that optic illusion produced by Charles' masterpiece, 'Egregious'? That word in the cursive writing in lowercase letters, 'sanbser' ," Ladybug reminded her.

"Yes, I do."

"Can you tell me if that word means anything in other languages apart from French and English?" asked Ladybug.

"No, I'm afraid that word doesn't mean anything at all," Eloise shook her head.

"Thank you, Eloise, that's was a remarkable display of your linguist skills."

"So, did something make sense to you?" Chat Noir inquired as both of them walked away.

"Well..." Ladybug began as Gabriel walked towards them.

"Ladybug, if you don't mind, can I just ask a small favor from you?".

"Yes Mr. Agreste."

"Could you give me your autograph?" asked Gabriel as he took out a paper and a pen. '_I cannot wait any longer!_' said Gabriel to himself.

"Sure, Mr. Agreste,"Ladybug taking the pen and paper from him. As she was about to sign the paper, something struck her.

"Of course, that's how it was done," Ladybug took the paper then immediately handed it back. "Sorry Mr. Agreste, something just came to my attention."

She ran towards Officer Raincomprix, Chat Noir following her from behind.

"Ladybug, do you need something?" he asked.

Ladybug whispered something in his ears.

"That's a lot of work, but I'll be up to it."

"Thank you Officer."

"M'Lady, what's going on? I have to admit, I'm confused."

"I know who killed Charles Laurent," Ladybug was smiling.

* * *

Note - Please, please review so that I can know how my stories are and improve them in the future = )

The fifth chapter is the final chapter and I'll post it on Friday, 28th June.

Also, I'll give my reply to all guest reviews tomorrow after posting the final chapter = )


	5. Chapter 5 - Case Closed

Note - This is the final chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Case Closed**

"Why are all of us here?" asked the Mayor.

Everyone was sitting on chairs in a small room in Jacques' studio which was a block away from the gallery. There was a small platform and the chairs were arranged in a semi-circle around the platform. Gabriel was seated next to the Mayor at the end of the semi-circle. Jacques and Laura were sitting side by side. They were followed by Marc and Nathaniel. Meanwhile, the last three seats were occupied by Kristina, Eloise, and Darrell.

"Ladybug's orders," replied Officer Raincomprix who was standing on the platform. Just then Ladybug and Chat Noir entered the room.

"What's the meaning of this Ladybug? Come to show us another painting?" Darrell rolled his eyes.

"No."

"Then?" the Mayor inquired.

"I know who killed Charles Laurent," Ladybug answered.

Her statement was followed by whispers and gasps.

"Who is it?" Eloise questioned.

"Patience. Let's review the facts first," Ladybug said.

"Today evening, we all, (except Chat Noir who came later) were here to see the Gallery and admire the paintings. And Charles was kind enough to show us a painting of Ladybug and Chat Noir, as well as his masterpiece, Egregious," Ladybug continued.

"So what?" Darrell asked.

"Patience Mr. Lefebvre," Chat Noir sighed.

"Thank you Chat Noir," Ladybug thanked him.

"After Charles showed us his paintings, Ms. Eloise here told me that Charles always used more than one art form for all of his paintings," Ladybug continued.

"Yes, I did," Ms. Eloise agreed.

"This was indeed the same with 'Egregious', which was made of mosaic patterns and an auto stereogram, which contained a message, a word, 'sanbser' written in cursive handwriting. We later deduced it to be a song or a name of a book, or maybe something Charles was fond of."

"What does this have to do with Charles' death?" Laura interrupted.

"Please let me review the facts," Ladybug said politely.

"There's a staircase in the gallery that leads to two rooms upstairs; one room where Charles worked on his paintings and one where Charles kept his finished paintings. Chat Noir and I investigated both the rooms. In the room where Charles kept his finished paintings, we both discovered a contract signed between Kristina and Charles, whereby Charles was going to sell all of his paintings to her except for the Ladybug and Chat Noir painting and the masterpiece Egregious", Ladybug finished.

"I thought you hated Charles," Jacques turned to Kristina.

"I...loved him," Kristina blurted out.

"Ha ha! Seems this night is going on to be even more exciting. I never imagined you to be an emotional fool Kristina," Darrell gave a sarcastic laugh.

"Anyways, there was another contract, which was signed between Charles and Jacques, right Mr. Charpentier?" said Ladybug as she ignored Darrell.

"You're spot on, Ladybug," Jacques Charpentier nodded.

"Moving ahead, after Charles made his announcement that his masterpiece was over, we all were scattered throughout the gallery again. Then one by one all of you, except for Marc and Nathaniel went upstairs. Even I went upstairs," Ladybug went on, "The first was Gabriel Agreste who presented an idea, which Charles approved of. After he came downstairs, Darrell Lefebvre went upstairs and I happened to overhear their conversation when I was in the other room where Charles kept his finished paintings. Charles had refused to sign an exclusive contract with Darrell."

"Wait a minute, why did you even go upstairs in the first place?" Eloise inquired.

_'To get away from Chloe!'_said Ladybug to herself.

"I was just exploring."

"Carry on Ladybug," the Mayor said.

"So Charles had refused to sign an exclusive contract with Darrell and Mr. Lefebvre got angry and started to berate Charles," Ladybug explained further on.

"After Darrell and I went downstairs, Jacques went upstairs. Charles told Jacques that he wanted to extend the period of their contract to another two years and Jacques agreed. Following Jacques, Kristina went upstairs to check on Charles and she misunderstood that he had closed their deal but the truth is that he hadn't. At the same time that Kristina went upstairs, Laura went to the other room where the finished paintings were kept with some refreshments. She also overheard a conversation, in which Kristina shouted at Charles and left in anger," Ladybug told them, "Now Charles was killed with knife palette. There were only two knife palettes went we went to the room where Charles works on his paintings earlier this evening. Both of them were covered with deep red paint and I deduced that the blood oozing out of Charles' neck was a mixture of red paint and blood because the murderer had slit Charles' throat with that knife palette."

"Ladybug, I just called the forensic department, it seems that your conclusion was true," the Officer informed her.

"And when Ladybug and I were investigating that room with my night vision, I saw the palettes. The killer left them there itself. The room was dark and there were no CCTV cameras in either room, this made it easy for the murder to kill Charles from behind and then hide his body behind a canvas. But Ms. Eloise here has a keen observation and she saw the dead body and screamed," Chat Noir took over now.

"The killer is obviously the one who was the last person to talk to Charles," Laura commented.

"You're right Ms. Petit," Ladybug said as everyone looked at her shockingly.

"Laura!" Eloise exclaimed.

"No, if you remember, Laura came downstairs before Kristina."

"Then, you were the last to talk to Charles, weren't you?" asked Eloise addressing Kristina

"Yes, but I..." Kristina was cut off by Ladybug.

"Chat Noir and I found an extinguished candle in the other room where Charles' finished paintings are kept. At first, we thought that he was using it because there was no electricity or because he wanted to make wax paint. It's neither", said Ladybug.

"Then maybe because he feeling cold, there aren't any electric heaters in a painter's room," Eloise suggested.

"Earlier this evening, when we came it was really hot, in fact, most of you were complaining about the sweltering heat," Ladybug reminded them.

"Then why would Charles keep a candle in the room?" Chat Noir questioned, confused.

"To burn something," Ladybug replied.

"To burn something?" Gabriel asked.

"You're all wrong. Kristina wasn't the last person to talk to Charles", said Ladybug smiling.

"What? That doesn't make sense."

"The last person to talk with Charles and then kill him was..." Ladybug trailed off as she looked at all the people.

"It was you, Mr. Jacques Charpentier," Ladybug pointed at him.

"What!" exclaimed Darrell, as everyone looked at him.

"This is ridiculous! I was downstairs the entire time when Kristina was talking to Charles," Jacques looked directly at her.

"True, but she wasn't talking to Charles," Ladybug told him, "It was around 7 pm when Kristina opened the door, the room was pitch black and the only source of light was the light coming through the translucent windows, which was cast on the mannequin. Since the mannequin bore the figure of a male, it appeared as if though Charles was standing near the windows. Since Kristina was a bit impatient, she failed to notice this detail. The fact that Charles never replied back to her was because he was already dead."

Ladybug continued, "The mannequin was shifted by Jacques Charpentier, who after killing Charles with the palette knife, hid his body behind a canvas and dragged the mannequin near the window, to make it appear as if though Charles was alive. After everyone entered the room on hearing Ms. Eloise scream, you quickly dragged the mannequin back to its original place while everyone's attention was fixed on the dead body and since it was pitch black in the room, no one was able to see you. After which you just had to pretend that you were shocked about everything else, you are quite the actor Mr. Charpentier. Perhaps Ms. Eloise can employ you in her acting company since you were going bankrupt."

"Bankrupt?" Laura looked confused.

"Yes, Jacques already knew about the contract between Charles and Kristina, at first it appeared to be no harm, but then later he realized that if Charles sold his paintings to Kristina, she would gain from it as she is an art dealer. She would be able to make more connections with other people than Jacques would ever have. He even confronted Charles about this and he was the one who told Charles that the duration of their contract should extend by another two years, Charles agreed to do so because the period hadn't expired yet and he was being pressurized by Jacques to do so. I had Officer Raincomprix do a little bit of work and he contacted the bank you are associated with Mr. Charpentier," Ladybug stopped for a breath, "Since you had been borrowing loans from the bank for the past three years and hadn't paid any of them yet, the interest rates were increasing, which meant that you would have to pay more money than you borrowed. That's when you realized that extending the duration of your contract, would drive you to bankruptcy and since you knew that Charles would refuse to cut off the deal, you had to get rid of him, to save your money. You are a cold-blooded murderer."

"Is this true Jacques?" Kristina questioned.

"After which you started threatening poor Charles and he wanted to burn the papers that he had signed with you Mr. Charpentier, that's why he had a candle in the other room so that he could do it in secrecy. However, he had second thoughts because if he closed the deal with you, he wouldn't be able to sell his paintings to Kristina as he wouldn't be a part of an art studio and it takes time to join another one, so he decided not to do anything about it," Ladybug explained as Jacques Charpentier rose from his seat.

Ladybug stopped him, "Wait, there's more, I started doubting you the moment I finish interrogating you. While I was interrogating you, you were clever to skip out some of the facts. However, there's something that made me have a hunch that it would be you. You said that you met Charles in the room and you both had an agreement to the contract which was half true and that Charles was shifting his masterpiece to the other room. What happened was that after you had your talk with Charles, you attacked him from behind and slit his throat with the palette knife. After you hid his body behind the canvas, you used the door to the right of the windows to enter the room where Charles' finished paintings were. The truth is that the masterpiece, 'Egregious' was already there in the other room the whole time, I remember seeing it when I was in that room overhearing a conversation between Charles and Darrell. You said that 'Charles was shifting his masterpiece to the other room', that was a slip of tongue from your side while you were making up a false story."

"What proof do you have to say that he did this?", asked Laura.

"The masterpiece," Ladybug said.

"The masterpiece?" asked Gabriel.

"Actually, Mr. Agreste, I must thank you once again. The last time your memory skills really helped me and this time you indirectly helped me figure out that my suspicions regarding Jacques were true," Ladybug gave a thankful nod.

"How did I help you exactly?"

"You asked me for my autograph," Ladybug smiled.

"I don't get it, M'Lady," Chat Noir said shaking his head.

"Remember Chat Noir when we were downstairs with Marc and Nathaniel. Nathaniel was admiring Charles' paintings and touching his signature while he was lamenting over his death. The signature was..."

"On the bottom left while the signature on the masterpiece was on the top right," Chat Noir remembered as he now realized what Ladybug was getting at.

"Exactly, the message we read was inverted."

"If we set the painting straight," Ladybug did that, "You'll see that 'sanbser' is 'Jacques', though it's difficult to read it due to the word being cursive."

"No, I see it clearly," Gabriel took out his pen and paper, "The word 'sanbser' looks a lot like this, 'sǝnbɔɐɾ', which if we invert, reads out 'Jacques'."

"Thanks a lot, Mr. Agreste," Ladybug said before turning back to the other, "Charles knew that Jacques was planning something against him, ever since Jacques confronted him about the deal between him and Kristina, he made an auto stereogram of Jacques name, which is much easier to make in cursive writing. The masterpiece was named 'Egregious' for that reason alone, to describe Jacques' true nature as he was being threatened by Jacques. Jacques on the other hand who knows a lot about art was able to deduce the message when we all were in the room with Charles earlier this evening. He acted to be clueless and Charles being the naive person he is, didn't suspect a thing. Later, after killing Charles and hiding his body, Jacques went to the other room and fixed the masterpiece upside down on the stand, in case someone read it by mistake. While I was trying to get some ash out of my eyes I squinted them and opened them to see the auto stereogram, which was, of course, inverted."

"These are all conjectures, do you have any proof Ladybug," Jacques challenged her.

"Can't say I don't agree with you Jacques, you have a wild imagination Ladybug, I bet you don't know who the killer is and just came up with a story to amuse us all," Darrell spat at her.

"Oh! So you're supporting Jacques now," Chat Noir shot back, angrily.

"Alright, Mr. Charpentier, you didn't commit the murder," Ladybug said as Gabriel raised his eyebrow.

_'What is she doing?' _Gabriel thought.

"What are you saying M'Lady, you just proved his guilt," Chat Noir argued.

"But she doesn't have any solid proof and I object," Jacques said.

"Okay, Mr. Charpentier, you didn't do it, but if that's the case then you wouldn't mind if the forensic experts checked your fingers for dry paint residue?" Ladybug asked confidently, then she continued, "The murderer killed Charles with a knife palette that was covered with a dark red paint and you never went to the washroom to wash your hands after that."

"I...you can't do that," Jacques objected.

"Why not?" asked Ladybug, "You're not the murderer, so you shouldn't have any objections then."

"It's not my fault, that stupid painter was going to be the cause of my bankruptcy."

"Do you realize that you have just confessed to your crime," Gabriel questioned.

"Yes, it was I who killed Charles Laurent. He was a stuck-up naive artist who believed in love and passion," Jacques confessed

"Perhaps, if you had been more open-minded then you wouldn't have committed this heinous crime. There was another paper in one of the drawers," Ladybug pulled it out of her yoyo, "A contract in which Charles agreed to work in your gallery for a sum lower than 40% of the original. That way you would have been saved from bankruptcy, Charles probably knew about your situation."

"Poor Charles! If only you had known that he would never do something to deprive you of money, you wouldn't have resorted to this," Laura mourned.

"I never believed you to be capable of this. You did all of this just for the money," Eloise looked at him unbelievingly.

"You could have come to me, taken all the paintings if you want. But you took away the person I cared about the most," Kristina choking with emotion.

"That's why I say that one must always look before they act," the Mayor said. Darrell kept silent.

"You are really egregious," Chat Noir told Jacques.

"Mr. Jacques Charpentier, you're under arrest for the murder of Charles Laurent," Officer Raincomprix handcuffed Jacques and took him away while the other two policemen picked the painting and took it with them to the gallery.

"I need to go home, thank you so much Ladybug," Kristina thanked holding Ladybug's hands and went.

"I'll come with you Kristina," Eloise as the two ladies went off.

"Well, I'll go and join Officer Raincomprix," the Mayor walked away.

"Ladybug, I want to thank you for bringing justice to Charles. I never thought Jacques would do something like this," Laura thanked her too.

"Excuse me, but I think I should go home too," Laura greeted Gabriel and Darrell.

"Ladybug, I think your summation was excellent and you are...,"Darrell began.

"I think you should get going, thank you Mr. Lefebvre," Ladybug cut him off.

"Yes, I'll be off," Darrell left Gabriel, Chat Noir and Ladybug behind.

"Ladybug, that was a brilliant summation," Gabriel praised.

"And once again, I have to thank you, Mr. Agreste, for your help. I am afraid, I'll have to give you my autograph some other day because I have to get going," Ladybug apologized.

"See you soon Mr. Agreste," Chat Noir waved as Gabriel stood dumbfounded.

* * *

"You were amazing M'Lady," Chat Noir beamed at her.

"I was able to do it because you helped me," Ladybug smiled back as they walked further down the street.

"I've been meaning to tell you something Ladybug," Chat Noir stopped walking.

"What is it?" asked Ladybug.

"I wanted to thank you for last time, you saved my life. We've been busy recently so I never got the chance to properly thank you," Chat Noir gave an awkward laugh.

"You don't have to thank me, you would have done the same thing if I was caught up in a situation like that,"Ladybug smiled.

"I would never let you get caught in a situation like that," Chat Noir said as he stepped closer to Ladybug.

"Thank you M'Lady," Chat Noir gently kissed her cheek.

"I have to go now M'Lady, until then," Chat Noir bowed as he took off with his baton.

Ladybug felt the blush spread on her cheeks as she looked up at the starry night sky.

* * *

Chat Noir reached the balcony of the Le Grand Paris, went inside and de-transformed into Adrien.

"Are you happy that you finally got to thank her?" Plagg remarked sarcastically.

"Yes Plagg," Adrien agreed.

"I've got to admit, Ladybug is brilliant," Plagg.

"Yes, she is the smartest girl I've ever known," Adrien said dreamily as a knock came from outside the door.

"Adrien?" the knock was harder now.

Adrien went up to the door as Plagg hid inside his jacket and opened the door to see Butler Jean standing outside.

"Monsieur, are you alright?" asked Butler Jean.

"Yes Jean, I was just sleeping," Adrien made an excuse.

"Your driver has come," Jean informed.

"Alright, I'll be down in a moment," Adrien told him as butler Jean left.

* * *

"What a day!" exclaimed Tikki, moments after Ladybug de-transformed. They were now in Marinette's bedroom.

"Marinette you were amazing," Tikki praised her.

"Thanks, Tikki, though I believe that an equal credit goes to Chat Noir and Mr. Agreste," Marinette replied.

"Chat Noir?" Tikki smiled knowingly as they heard a noise outside the bakery.

"Looks like maman and papa are back," Marinette guessed as she ran downstairs to the bakery.

"Marinette, you weren't lonely were you?" asked Sabine as she hugged her.

"No, not at all. How was your day at Gramps?" Marinette asked.

"We missed having you," Tom said as the three of them had their family hug.

* * *

"Adrien's home? That's good Gorilla. I'll be reaching soon", Gabriel cut the call as he sat in his car.

_Me helping Ladybug? No!...be prepared for Hawkmoth tomorrow Ladybug and Chat Noir! _Gabriel thought as he started his car engine.

* * *

**THE END**

**Author's Note -**

I hope you all liked the fan fiction.

This was a sequel to Chat Noir's Naivety.

A special thanks to my friend **Remasa** for her guidance and encouragement. Her work inspired me to write. I wouldn't have been able to write this fanfic without her support. Also Remasa has written a story called "**Hidden agendas**", which is also a Ladybug murder mystery. Please do read it, it's amazing, much better than mine : )

And a big special thanks to **my beta reader justwriting1moretime**. My beta Reader worked really hard to correct and edit. I really wouldn't have been able to do it without my beta's help. Thankyou so much **One**! : )

Another special thanks to **AmericanDemiGod** for supporting me : )

Please free to write anything in the reviews or PM, I'm open to criticism as well.

Please review so that I can know how my stories are, in order to make them even better. I'll definitely reply to the reviews as well, only if you review with your pen name.

I am looking forward to writing more stories in the mystery genre : )

* * *

Answer for the guest Reviews = )

_To Guest, 'Bree', Thanks a lot for your review and thanks for the support : )_

_To Guest, 'G.P', thank you so much for your review and your support, and to the question about whether I can do another one like this or a short kidnapping story? - I'll be glad to write it : )_

_To Guest 'Sam', thank you so much for review and your support, and to the question about whether I can __write one more like this - Sure, though it'll take some time ; )_

_And for those of you who have read 'Chat Noir's Naivety' and guest reviewed - thank you so much!_

* * *

The prequel of this story is "**Chat Noir's Naivety**" and the sequel to this story is "**Unexpected Trip**", so you can check these two out if you want : )


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